FEARLESS 2022 – Rounds 21 and 22: A picture tells a 1000 Words & May the force be with you!

A picture tells a 1000 words.

 

When Ash Johnson kicked the goal that put the Pies in front of the Dees, it became clear that the real winner was the audience! The Pies eked a 7pt win, however the footy public got a preview of AFL finals footy at its finest. For the Dees, tweak a few things. For the pies, close wins augur well for the finals and enough of them will make your % a non issue? Fly’s Pies seem to have the last 2 minutes mastered and well drilled.

 

There’s a saying that bad kicking is bad football. When the Suns fell short of the Hawks by 7pts in Tassie and kicked 1.5 in the last qtr…ouch. The Hawks ran out of puff in the last, scoring only a solitary point, but have outplayed their higher ranked opposition for the first three quarters. Jack Gunston stole the show with 5 goals, but young Sun Elijah Hollands impressed with 23 stats and 2 goals. Touk Miller continues to lead well as Co-Captain.

 

For Essendon’s trip to Giantsville, the question for both teams were: which side would turn up? Bombers had come off a solid win, Giants had come off a pantsing at the SCG. For GWS to walk off the ground with a 27pt win is probably indicative of the game being played above the shoulders! Interim GWS coach McVeigh and his band of ex-Bombers must’ve outlined what was to be tolerated. Ben Rutten’s turn is this week.

 

The Dockers trip to Doglands proved successful in many ways. An away win against 2021’s Grand Finalists proved Fremantle was finals bound and ready. The Dogs not so. Erratic all year, the Dogs now have their work ahead of them to make finals. Freo’s forward setup worked very well with Lobb 4, Freddy 3, Taberner 2 – too strong for the Dog’s defence. Luke Ryan led the Freo defence superbly 32 stats. Dockers by 17pts.

 

The road to the Cattery know only one outcome in 2022…pain for all visitors. In the Saints’ case, pain means another loss which could dent finals chances. Whilst keeping with the Cats for a half…with the Cats leading by 10pts by the end of the 2nd quarter. After the break the Cats went from 2nd gear to 5th, leaving the Saints in their wake. Ratt’s Saints on the end of a 45pt loss, 3.4 to 9.5. Hawkins and Smith 3 each, Crouch and Hill led the stats count.

 

The Tigers were staring down a danger game against Port in Adelaide on Saturday night….err…until half time. An 8pt Tiger lead and the Tigers were on!

 

4.7 by Port in the 2nd half simply wasn’t enough to halt the Tigers running away to a 38pt win to further enhance their finals push. Bolton’s 4.5 wasn’t an indication of his dominance, helped by Lynch 4 and Dan Rioli with 25stats and 2 goals. Port in 2022…a  mixed bag!

 

The VFL game almost upstaged the AFL match between North and Sydney says much for one person, Ben Cunnington, and his opponent Josh Kennedy! However, the Swans came to Marvel and meant business. A 38pt win over the Roos said as much. A potent blend of youth and experience, Sydney provided the Roos with a template for going forward. Buddy 4. Nick Larkey 7 spread-eagled the McCartin brothers’ defence.

 

Carlton made the tough trip to the Gabba to take on the Lions. 10 scoring shots to 1 indicated that the Blues arrived at 1/4 time. 4.6 by the Lions probably indicated the Lions didn’t take full control. How a side that desperately wants to play finals fail to show up in the 1st qtr is mind blowing. Blues regained some respect, despite losing by 33pts. Bailey, McStay 4 each. Neale 32, Docherty 28. Brisbane are now finals bound!

 

It was all about JK.  The home town hero. Playing the final game in front of an adoring crowd. Josh Kennedy, West Coast’s leading goal scorer, finished on a high with 8. The final play in the Judd-Kennedy trade. A celebration in WA, but nobody told the Crows. Interstate Conglomerates Cup ended with a 16pt Crows win, largely due to heroics of Darcy Fogerty 4 and Shane McAdam 3! In the end the Crows were simply better.

 

 

Round 22: Ben Cunnington…may the force be with you!

 

You must win to play finals. Your opponent is finals bound but wonky away from home. You lead by 5 points at the last change. 30 minutes lies between finals action for the Saints and another season ending before September. You kick 0.5 and allow the others to kick 4.1, including a fierce cameo from Lion Cam Rayner with 3 last-qtr goals. You lose by 15pts. That basically sums up the Saints in 2022. Close, but no cigar!

 

One of the AFL’s newer rivalries managed to go right down to the wire at Marvel with the Dogs holding off the Giants by 5pts on Saturday arvo. Don’t know if the Dogs got nervous or the Giants had been freed of any expectations! 62 to 57 under the roof doesn’t exactly scream a must watch. The Giants roared back to life in the 3rd before the Dogs nearly shot themselves in the foot with 1.6 in the last to hold on. Ugly!

 

Ben Cunnington returned to footy at the Adelaide Oval after his recovery from the 2nd bout of testicular cancer. This alone was almost enough to inspire an upset. Almost, given Norths putrid record at the Adelaide Oval in the last decade. Almost, but the Crows managed to win by 29pts after the scores were level at 3/4 time. 4pts to 5.3 in the last sealed the Crow’s win. Fogerty 4, Walker 3, Zurhaar off a bit with 2.4.

 

10 goals – about what was expected, barring an upset. Cats are purring and the Suns have faded into the sunset of the 2022 season. The Cats trip to Club Metricon saw the usual suspects Cameron and Stengle with 3 each and any early chance of an upset was scotched by the Cat’s 7 goals in the 1st qtr. A 31pt quarter-time lead by the Cats slowly grew, despite the best efforts of Suns Miller and Ellis. Rankine 2, only Suns multiple scorer.

 

You do everything right for all, bar the last 2 minutes. That summed up Carlton’s effort against Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night. Of all the Demon forwards, who do you not want to give the smallest amount of time and space to in the dying minutes? whilst preserving a small lead? Yes, Kosi Pickett. Costly, a loose defensive effort and Pickett made them pay. Footy sucks sometimes. Blues fans empathise. Demons 5pts.

 

Fisticuffs were a feature of the Saturday night derby in Perth. Not quite as obvious as Freo’s errant forward 50 in the 3rd qtr, but obvious enough to get into the highlights. 2.8 for Freo in the 3rd explains why the end margin was 24pts rather than more. Freddy and Son Son Walters with 2, but the midfield service from Sean Darcy with 56 hitouts was great. Duggan and Hurn kept the Eagles in it… reality is that Freo is finals bound.

 

A 6 goal 1st qtr and a 9 goal 3rd qtr did the job for the Tigers against the Hawks on Sunday at the MCG. Tom Lynch kicked 8. Cotchin and Prestia with 30 stats had also helped cement the Tiger’s win. Hawk’s ball winning capacity were similar (Mitchell 32, Sicily 30) but the forward line not as functional. A 10 goal win the perfect warmup for Tigers finals action. Richmond’s forward 50 efficiency and scoring accuracy way better.

 

The Pies hit the roadblock at the SCG. Sydney brought an unstuck Collingwood with their happy knack of winning close ones. Swans basically led from start to finish and defended the SCG by strangling the life and innovation out of their opponents. Buddy kicked 3 whilst leading the Swans attack and the Daicos boys were less prolific than normal. A quality game for the theatregoers of Moore Park and a definite finals preview.

 

Ramifications. Reverberations after the game have been ongoing. Port not only were too powerful for Essendon but shredded the coaching career of Don’s coach Ben Rutten, amid the fallout of multiple Essendon board members leaving the board. Port won by 84pts with many rating the Bombers performance as inept. SPP 4, Houston, Wines 30+ and Port coach Ken Hinkley was happy with effort that’s top top top!

 

 

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